So I went to Electric Cyclery expecting to have the BionX 48V kit put on my GT Avalanche, but no such Luck. It wouldn't fit because the rear dropouts on my bike weren't deep enough to accept the axle of the BionX motor properly. The installer wasn't comfortable with the fit, and if he wasn't, I certainly wasn't going to push it. Words like "possible catastrophic failure" weren't reassuring.

So long story short, I rolled out with my second choice, a more expensive Stromer. Based on web research, I'd thought that all I needed was the "entry level" model for $2,850. But come to find out that was the 2011 model and no longer available. By the time I left, I'd talked myself up to the top line Elite model, with 27 speeds, and hydraulic disk brakes.

Oh well, my LEAF Is saving me gas money, right?

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My wife was having problems keeping up on our bike rides, so I bought her an "E-bike" off eBay a couple years ago. It works great. Variable pedal assist works nice and smooth. The biggest problem I've had is finding out she has too much assist dialed in, and she's not getting any exercise! I ride it once I a while, to go to the Post Office or grocery store, and it is addictive. The E-bike is VERY heavy framed though, making it cumbersome when you run out of battery power. If I recall, I waited until after Christmas, and got 15% off, so I only paid ~$900 for it.

Distance: 22.4 miles, fairly flat terrain with a few hills and underpasses.
Average speed: 13.1 mph using pedal assist almost exclusively, rather than throttle
Battery status: indicated 50% upon return (ind. 95% at full charge before trip), so the claimed 45 mile range is realistic with a new battery and a 200 lb rider.

A really fun ride. I used mostly the two lowest assist settings except when hill climbing. I passed everyone on the trails that wasn't dressed in Lycra and riding a skinny road bike. I could have kept pace with them, but I didn't want to ride with a crowd and I wanted to keep my speed below about 15 mph on a somewhat crowded trail, just for safety. I did get some exercise and I feel like I rode maybe 7 or 8 miles instead of 22.

The only mechanical problem was that a couple times I noticed that I wasn't getting any assist even though the display showed that I was in assist mode. This was after re-starting after a rest stop. It was probably my error or something easily worked around. A quick off/on cycle fixed it. The nice thing was, though, that the bike's gearing made it reasonably easy to ride even without assist, despite it being a very heavy 62 pound bike.

I'm impressed.

Last edited by Boomer23 on Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Compared with the Stromer, the Picycle has a noisy drive train from what I hear on the video. The Stromer is silent. I don't like the front hub drive placement, the throttle control switch operation, the shifter design, the fact that the batteries appear sealed inside the frame, and the look of the bike. Not a fan.

Volusiano wrote:
Even at $2500, the lack of front and rear suspension on a 70 lbs bike is puzzling. The bumps must be pretty jarring...

Strangely enough, Stromer is deleting suspension as standard beginning next year, though it will be optional, and the same with the power on demand throttle. Probably trying to keep costs down and avoid pricing themselves out of the market.

I have a self-converted ebike. The bike is a full suspension Giant NRS 2 with hydraulic disc brakes. It is fitted with a rear-wheel Ezee motor and a 25A Infineon controller. I built a triangular battery which fits in a custom bag inside the frame. The battery is built from Sony LiMn 18650 cells taken from Bosch FatPacks which once could be gotten cheap on ebay. Battery specs is 10Ah@48V.

My cruising speed on level ground is about 26mph and max power output is around 1.3kW. Power is controlled by twist throttle only (left side). Right side is twist gear shifter (SRAM X0).

In 2004 I built a simple electric bike using a Currie US Pro-Drive that I installed on my old Peugeot U.S. Express city bike. I put a lot of miles on that E-bike. I would even take it mountain biking. It was a blast. Because of the extra weight of the electric motor and batteries, I eventually wore the bike out.